TRENTON, New Jersey, USA (AP) — Senator Cory Booker took to the Senate floor on Monday night and held it until Tuesday night to push back against President Donald Trump’s Republican agenda.
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He spoke for 25 hours and 4 minutes, recording the longest continuous Senate floor speech in the chamber’s history.
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Booker broke the record set by Senator Strom Thurmond, a segregationist from South Carolina, who in 1957 performed a 24-hour and 18-minute obstructionist maneuver opposing a civil rights law.
“Madam President...I yield the floor,” Booker said to end his speech, and the people present in the chamber erupted in an ovation.
A Democrat from New Jersey who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020, Booker expressed a frustration bordering on exasperation over a range of issues related to Trump in his lengthy speech in the Senate, from the possibility of annexing Greenland and Canada to cutting social programs and reducing taxes.
Booker’s speech, occasionally interrupted by Democratic colleagues to whom he yielded the floor for questions while catching his breath, took place while Democrats are in the minority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is not clear what effect Booker’s speech could have, but it reflects one of the levers available to parties out of power and seeks to motivate the disheartened Democratic base, also upset with the recent decisions of their party leaders.
Who is Senator Booker?
Booker, 55, was born in Washington, D.C., and moved to northern New Jersey as a child. He has spoken about growing up in a black family in a predominantly white neighborhood and how his parents faced opposition when they tried to buy a house.
He played American football at Stanford University before attending Yale Law School and then worked as a lawyer for non-profit organizations, providing legal assistance to low-income families. He was elected to the Newark City Council and later as mayor of the state’s largest city, where he served until 2013.
His time in office coincided with the $100 million donation from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to the city’s public schools, a benefit that at the time elevated his status as a rising star in the Democratic Party.
In 2013, he was elected in a special election to the Senate following the death of incumbent Frank Lautenberg. He then won his first full term in 2014 and was reelected in 2020.
He launched an optimistic but ultimately failed presidential campaign in 2020 in a crowded Democratic field. Standing in the front yard of his home in Newark, Booker declared: “Love is not easy.”
What are the topics that Booker talked about?
Booker’s speech in the Senate began around 7 p.m. on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, her voice occasionally wavered with emotion as she acknowledged her colleagues asking her questions, giving her the chance to take a break from speaking.
He read letters from his constituents, quoted authors like Langston Hughes, and delved into foreign policy and possible cuts to the social safety net.
He denounced that Republicans are seeking to cut healthcare for Americans “in order to disproportionately give tax cuts to the wealthy” and increase deficits.
He claimed that the United States was renouncing its global leadership and cited Trump’s proposals to acquire Greenland and Canada while fighting with long-standing allies.
Reflecting his inclination towards uplifting rhetoric, Booker lamented the lack of unity.
“We are a union in trouble compared to our global peers,” he said. “However, we are a nation of absolute abundance, and we have shown in the past to be a nation of incredible vision.”
He also occasionally pointed to Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, who has become the second most important person in the Trump administration and leads the Department of Government Efficiency. He criticized the president’s agenda to renew tax cuts that would benefit wealthy Americans, like Musk.
Booker’s cousin and brother, as well as Democratic aides, watched from the chamber’s gallery. Sen. Chris Murphy accompanied Booker on the Senate floor throughout the day and night. Murphy was returning the comradeship that Booker had given to him in 2016 when the Connecticut Democrat held the floor for almost 15 hours to argue for gun control legislation.